This blog features observations from Randy Turner, a former teacher, newspaper reporter and editor. Send news items or comments to rturner229@hotmail.com

Monday, January 18, 2016

Joplin city manager provides weekly update

(Joplin City Manager Sam Anselm provided the following update to City Council members Friday.)

Good afternoon, everyone. Please see below for this week’s update.

Key Meetings

-On Monday, I visited with representatives from Heritage Strategies, to give input/weigh
on some questions they had related to putting together our new historical preservation
plan. They have been meeting with various stakeholders this week and may possibly
reach out to members of Council as well, as I am sure they would welcome your input as
they work to put our plan together. I’d like to commend our planning department,
particularly the work of Taylor Cunningham and Stephen Grindle, for their efforts in
working with the company and our community as we gather information and input.

-On Tuesday we received an update from Deloitte and staff on the JHAP program.
Through the end of last week we have closed on 436 homes, with approximately 113
more that could close within the next six months.

-On Wednesday I met with Joplin Chamber President Rob O’Brian to discuss several
projects, namely the advanced technical training center at the former Franklin Tech
building, as well as an ongoing effort to reach out to the representatives from
International Paper to gain their support to enhance the retail market in the area off of
Range Line, west of the Home Depot location.

-On Thursday, Director Bolander and I met with Jimmer Pinjuv for an update on projects
taking place out at Wildwood Ranch.

-Later that afternoon, Director Pekarek and I participated in the monthly One Joplin
steering team meeting to hear updates from various teams working in the focus areas of
health, human services, and poverty. We are working on a communication plan to share
with various stakeholders, but I have been impressed by the ability of our non-profit
community to come together around these issues and begin to work on solving some of
our toughest social issues. More information on this endeavor will be coming soon.

-Earlier today, I met with Director Allgood to get an update on various programs in human
resources. Anticipating the close-out of the JHAP program, which is currently facilitated
out of the first floor of city hall, we will have the potential for additional space to provide
service to our residents, and we are beginning discussions about how that space could be
utilized in the future. Another project we will be focusing our efforts on this calendar
year is finalizing the update to our rules & regulations manual.

-Several people have mentioned an article that was written by Jim Salter with the
Associated Press, that ended up in various newspapers from across the country
(Washington, DC, Tulsa, and St. Louis, just to name three that I saw) discussing our
recovery as we approach the five-year anniversary of the tornado. In light of that
coverage, I was asked to participate in a podcast with GovLove to further discuss our
recovery efforts, so earlier today I spent about an hour having that conversation. While
preparing for that podcast, I was reminded of the hard work and tremendous effort our
community has put forth towards our recovery, and I can’t help but feel both pride and
humility when I think about all we have accomplished. My words certainly cannot do
justice to adequately convey the spirit and tenacity of our community, but I hope my
comments will at least convey my sincere appreciation for our staff (both present and
former), our businesses and faith-based communities, and the volunteers who continue to
support and serve our city.

-Wrapping up my afternoon, I received an update from AtCM Brian Kelly and city
manager’s office intern Kaneisha Giles on the progress of our volunteer program. We
continue to work out some details and are putting together a marketing plan, but we have
already begun receiving applications from residents to participate in the program, so I am
optimistic about its future.

Miscellaneous

-Our Public Works and Fire departments have been working with GLMV architecture on
finalizing the plans for the Public Safety Training Center building, and are working
together to prepare the construction documents to put out to bid.

-On Thursday, PW Director Nick Heatherly met with SEMA and FEMA representatives
to tour flood-damaged areas as a result of the heavy rains a few weeks ago. There is no
timetable on when we will learn whether any of our costs are reimbursable, but I will
keep you posted.

-CVB Director Patrick Tuttle is working on an updated tourism market assessment, and
has asked that I pass along the following comments and a summary of the initiative that is
under way, which is attached to this report as well.

* It has been more than 11 years since the CVB completed any form of a tourism
market assessment. Since March 2015, we have had an ongoing online survey of
those potential guests who have requested a Visitors Guide. Our follow-up
survey is to see if their inquiry turned into a conversion, i.e. a visit. Those
findings will be turned over to a professional assessor by midyear and the results
made public shortly after.

*In a couple of weeks, the CVB will embark on a tourism destination assessment
called Destination NEXT. This program has been developed over the past 5 years
and is administered through Destination Marketing Association International
(DMAI), the primary organization for CVB advocacy and development. The
assessments will be taken by tourism stakeholders from across the region, then
collected and evaluated. The findings will be assessed against three platforms: a)
against all the data DMAI has collected worldwide, b) against similar sized
tourism markets and c) against our market by itself.
o Following a month of collecting data, at the February board meeting of the JCVB
advisory board we will conduct a four-hour workshop to go through the findings.
A moderator from DMAI will conduct this workshop, with the goals of reviewing
the findings, learning how we compare to other like markets, and formulating
ideas for moving forward with the identified strengths and opportunities.

*Council members will be invited to complete the online assessment, plus have 2-3
council members participate in the workshop if you are interested. The workshop
will be from 12:30 to 4:30 on Tuesday, February 23rd.

*Attached is a brief summary of the 20 variables that are measured. The first two
parts focus on the first 10 variables, while parts three and four focus on the latter
10. A link will be sent out next week to access the assessment for your
participation.

In the Pipeline

-Please mark your calendars for a work session on January 25th to discuss our change
order policy. I have also reached out to department heads to see if there are any other
topics that we can update you on, so as the agenda takes shape I will keep you informed
and send you any supporting documentation you may need to be prepared for the
discussion(s).

-Earlier this week I also attended the personnel board meeting, where the topic of the
parks reorganization was discussed, along with associated job descriptions that needed to
be revised and incorporated into the pay plan. The personnel board approved the
reorganization plan and the position titles/changes, so they will be brought to you for
your consideration at our meeting on February 1st.

-Next week, I will be out of the office most of the day Wednesday and all day Thursday,
to attend the Missouri City/County Manager’s Association winter workshop in Columbia,
Missouri.
I

About Me

I am a former teacher in the Joplin and Diamond, Missouri, school districts. Before entering the teaching field, I spent 22 years as a reporter and editor for various Southwest Missouri newspapers. I have published three novels, Small Town News, Devil's Messenger, and No Child Left Alive, and seven non-fiction books, The Turner Report, Newspaper Days, Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud, Greed, Corruption, and the Joplin Tornado, 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado, Scars from the Tornado and Let Teachers Teach.

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